Nashville based trio Judah & the Lion (not to be confused with Daniel & the Lion) is on tour in support of their full-length studio album Kids These Days entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart at #2 and the Folk Albums
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With singer-songwriter Ben Rector, everything is new againâ€¦make that Brand New-

The Nashville resident has been gradually building his loyal audience for years, releasing three EPs and seven albums on his own terms, the most recent being Brand New on his Aptly Named Recordings label, and his recent performance at the recently refurbished Northrop Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota, showed that brand new is just fine with his multitude of fans.

Judah & the Lion

The evening began with a spirited and fun performance from another Nashville band, Judah & the Lion, and Americana folk band who are finishing their upcoming full-length, hot on the heels of last yearâ€™s self-released EP, Kids These Days.

Judah & the Lion

Vu saw the band at a sold out 7th Street Entry show last November and the group (six on stage) is growing leaps and bounds in terms of their animated live show and growing audience. The band has a blend of â€œcity-fiedâ€ bluegrass and alt-country music; from the banjo lesson we all got on â€˜Southern Groundâ€™ to the snap-a-long/clap-a-long participation of â€˜Waterâ€™ that closed their 40 min set enthusiastically as singer Judah Akers jumped into the crowd, raced around the aisles, and ended the song high-fiving everyone at the entry doors.

Ben Rector

With a stark spotlight on the piano, a solo, suit-jacketed Ben Rector began his 90 min set with the delicate â€˜Something Beautifulâ€™ before moving into the anthemic title track of his new album. The sound in the â€œnewâ€ Northrop carries farther and adds some additional punch to percussion and lower-end, each of which benefited Rectorâ€™s live band.

After the fifth song, a touching â€˜When a Heart Breaksâ€™, Rector took a breath to address the crowd, mentioning Minneapolis as the first city to sell out, when Rector first started touring. â€˜The Men That Drive Me Placesâ€™ from the new album was inspired by a story of a cab driver, with Rector determined to preserve his story as an everyday hero in our land of opportunity.

â€˜Note to Selfâ€™ brought out the vocal harmonies and then the band gathered around a center mic for a mini-acoustic set, including a re-arranged â€™Forever Like Thatâ€™, spotlighting two members of the band, that both come from the area originally.

Audience

For main set closer, â€˜Follow Youâ€™ Rector again revealed the secret of the encore- â€œwe just walk twenty five feet over, wait for you to applaud, then come back outâ€, and after the song, they did exactly that, instead of staying out on stage. Several homemade signs were held high in the crowd throughout (something you donâ€™t see a lot of, especially at this venue) and Rector spied one held by a little girl and invited her onstage briefly.

The two encore songs were tailor-made for weddings, the new â€˜More Like Loveâ€™ and 2010â€™s â€˜White Dressâ€™, the latter being one of Rectorâ€™s biggest hits and had audience members young and old (a good number of families there) clapping along from the songâ€™s beginning.

Rectorâ€™s inspired music captures the upbeat magic that happens on an everyday basis, that is often not noticed or appreciated, but itâ€™s clear his loyal fans notice and value every note, whether old or brand new.